Chicken Shit Makes You A Winner

You are hollering. Loud. A simple number. 18. Over and over. Your eyes are fixed on a number grid. You are not alone, there are 50 others screaming numbers; just not yours. Some try it with "here, here,...." No, you are not in Las Vegas at a roulette table, you are cramped around a wire cage west of San Antonio, in Big T's Roadhouse and you watch a chicken strut the grid. Finally, relief is here, the chicken sets a wet one on a number and that number wins. Wins, wins big, the whole pot.

That's how you experience "Chicken Shit Bingo." What started out at carnivals under tents, is still played in the country. Also known as "Chicken Drop" it actually has universal appeal, in the Alps furry cows do it on a gridded meadow, they call it "Cow Patty Bingo." But back to the fowl in St. Hedwig, where Big T's draws a big crowd every Sunday.

Whenever the band takes a break people rush to the pool table covered in a randomly numbered and gridded plywood top with a chicken wire cage on top of it. Two dollars gets you in and gives you "your number." And then the protagonist of the afternoon arrives. Shiny feathers, a comb reaching the sky. He knows it's his 15 minutes of fame to make you a loser or a winner.






Normally the 15 minutes get cut short - a mild laxative helps to keep the attention span at bay. Originally brought into Austin by Country musician Dale Watson, the by now worldwide famous Chicken droppings event, started around 2000 in Ginny Kalmbach's bar, "Ginny's Little Longhorn." She retired in 2013, new owner Dale and part of his family took over. Dale also bought Big T's in St. Hedwig. By now Dale left the central Texas area, sold his interest in both bars and moved to Memphis. So I assume there soon will be a "Chicken Shit Bingo" - maybe at Graceland? But the tradition in Austin and St. Hedwig goes on, after church and lunch you spend the afternoon at the bar, having a couple of cold ones and scream your numbers.

And when relief comes, I heard more than one patron shout "shit," not to encourage the barnyard fowl, but realizing that they just lost. 5 won the pot, 18 the sneer. Glad there is another round of playing the next time the band takes a break. Let's get a beer and dance to the band like the dickens to the West Texas Waltz.

Sun Pillar At Dawn

A blog or at least the newsletter I try to read every day comes from Earth & Sky, many of you may know from NPR. Their daily look up into the stars, planets, constellations and other astronomical happenings are a little guide, of what I may expect during the night hours.

Today's newsletter featured the atmospheric phenomenon of a sun pillar (light pillar), who form when the sunlight is reflected from millions of drifting hexagonal ice crystals are in the air. These pillars may reach upwards or downwards normally with a low sitting sun at dawn or dusk and may reach 5 to 10 or even more degrees up or down.

If the light stems from other sources like the moon or streetlights they are called light pillars - you may have seen them, especially in winter night landscape photography.

The website Atmospheric Optics also taught me the difference between rays and pillars; rays are normally visible when the sunlight is scattered because of dust, aerosols or moisture droplets.

Sources: amu communications photo, Atmospheric Optics, Earth & Sky
The photo on top is available for commercial use through Dispatch Press Images.

Pumpjack (Oil Rig) In The Sunset

North Central Texas only has a smaller oil basin compared with the Permian in West Texas or the Eagle-Ford in South Tecas, so Pump Jacks are rather a rare sight. This one is located above the Bend Arch - Fort Worth Basin oil reserve between Alexander and Stephenville, Texas. I thought that the silhouette with the setting sun would make a great shot.

Not only refers it "romantically" to the old days of using fossil fuels, but it may also signify the end of doing exactly that. As the barrel prices are currently quite low, the pump jack stands mostly idle waiting for better times, where the parent company may make more profit. Also as the cost of a pump jack is "only" around a million dollar, many prospectors are coming back to this old method of gaining oil and gas resources out of the ground instead of using fracking.

Let me know what you think about the picture and our future concerning fossil fuels.

A Whole New World - At The India Market

Down the street a new India Market opened a couple of weeks ago, so we had to check it out.

Besides all the offerings (some obviously quite new to me) I was really impressed with the natural and artificial light-flow in the new building.

Unfortunately my ignorance is quite high when it comes to the different types of flours being offered; as a cook and baker, (visit my blog - Where In The Hell Is Carlton - for recipes) I love to make my own breads. Maybe some reader may enlighten me, what to use. Being raised in Europe where slightly different flours may go for different breads, the flours generally offered in US stores are of the "all purpose" variety.

A great plus was to actually find a store which has pastry dough (or puff pastry - mille feuille) on sale, which upto now was only available seasonally at Trader Joe's over the Holidays.

Remember The Alamo

 

The Alamo or even its battle cry "Remember The Alamo" are not only known in the United States, but thanks to movies by and with John Wayne in 1960 and a historical more accurate version in 2004 helmed by Ron Howard, almost all over the world. It depicts part of the Texas Revolution or in other words the fight for independence for an area then owned by Mexico. The former mission, then fortress "The Alamo" is the most visited tourist attraction in the Lone Star state.

Before Mexico's independence in 1821, the Spanish ventured from Mexico all the way into today's Wyoming. On their way North in what they called New Spain, they built missions for the purpose of spreading Catholicism as well as the Spanish way of living and therefore obedience to the crown, among the indigenous inhabitants of the land. One of these missions was named San Antonio de Valero, built by Franciscan monks east of the San Antonio River around 1724.

In 1793 the mission was secularized, the land around given to Spanish settlers. The former mission was fortified and became a military fortress to defend the presidio of Bejar (also Bexar). A military company stationed at the fortress was called "La Compañía de Alamo de Parras" and over the years the company name became the name of the fortress, now known as the Alamo.

European settlers (mostly Anglo Americans) started to move into the area and settle down mostly under the federalist rules of the Spanish governor in charge. After Mexico's independence and the later rise of military general become president and then dictator, Antonio López de Santa Anna, the self proclaimed "Napoleon of the West," people started to rise up and form their own independent republics, even in today's heartland of Mexico. The Republic of Texas being the only one that succeeded.

In December of 1935 "Texians" took over the Alamo fortress and sent the Mexican troops South. Santa Anna was enraged and called for the execution of all the "pirates" that opposed his rule. With a large army he headed North, put a 13 day siege onto the Alamo and finally beat and slaughtered the undermanned occupants of the fortress on March 6, 1836. The battle cry was born and a new formed Texan army under Sam Houston followed Santa Anna and beat him in April of the same year in the Battle of San Jacinto. Santa Anna was captured and only released with the condition that the new Republic of Texas was granted its independence.

Before joining the Union (USA) in 1945, Texas was an independent republic for nine years;  the only US state to have been its own "country." A renovation and revitalization program for the whole Alamo complex is in its planning stages, a master plan and public hearings are supposed to take place in early 2017.

Sources: http://www.thealamo.org/, http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/toc.html

Christmas Lights At The Comal County Courthouse In New Braunfels, Texas

Every year, the Comal County Courthouse in the middle of New Braunfels is decked out with Christmas lights. Several festivities, like the Wassailfest, where merchants serve hot Glühwein to the Christmas shoppers and strollers and a Christmas parade prepare the people and visitors from around the state for the upcoming Christmas celebrations.

The Courthouse in its Romanesque Revival style was designed by James Gordon and completed in 1898, and most of it, is still original, besides some doors and the roof that have been replaced over the years. In 1991 it was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

Serenity Amongst Thousands of Fair Visitors

At the State Fair of Texas, even amongst the ten of thousands of daily visitors - on average it's roughly 100'000 a day - you may find a bit of serenity and peace of mind. While the area around the rides and games at Midway may be too crowded for you, just take a leisurely stroll on the fringes of the park, on Kid's Boardwalk.

Not only is there a calm, no name "lagoon" with a Texas Loch Ness monster, but there are also a couple of benches and green space to sit down, stretch your legs and relax for a little while, while watching the Texas Star © Ferris Wheel in the back slowly turning its rounds.

Sources: bigtex.com

Big Tex Says Howdy Y'All

Big Tex, the greeter at the State Fair of Texas in all its glory. After its predecessor burnt down in 2012, a new, bigger and taller Big Tex was built at a cost of $ 500'000. 55 feet (16.7m) tall, a chest that spans 33 3/4 ft (10.3m), with hands the size of 5 1/2 ft (1.7m) and a boot-size of US 96 (Euro 129) - if my calculation is right, there isn't an official shoe size converter for that size of shoe, sorry cowboy boot with a height of 12 ft (3.6m). BTW, he wears top notch Lucchese boots, and his cloth are made by Dickies. The pants won't fit into a commercial washer, they weigh 100 lbs (45.4kg) and normally last three seasons, before they have to be exchanged. He is so famous, that even the website for the State Fair of Texas simply uses bigtex.com as their URL.

Can't wait till next year to go say "Howdy" to Big Tex again.

Sources: bigtex.com

Texas Star, Food Booth & Midway Entrance

The Texas Star© Ferris Wheel in the back used to be, with 212 feet, the tallest in North America at one point. It was ousted of the top position several years ago, as one in Mexico was taller and now there are several in the United States that are even taller. There is one that is supposed to open to the public next year in New Jersey, and with its 630 feet, it will give you a splendid view of Manhattan.

Texas Star© is flanked by one of the many "fried" food booths at the State Fair of Texas and the entrance to the Midway section where you can go try all the gaffed games odds. I really like the combinations of colors and the framing around the wheel.

Nobody Too Small To Blow A Horn

I discovered this little feller last weekend at the State Fair of Texas. Obviously he had won this shiny metal toy trumpet and had to check it out right at the Fair. Not having any mutes (cup, harmon, plunger) with him, he just stuck his hand into the bell to alter his sound. While the sound it produces is not the same as a professional trumpet, he doesn't seem to care. I hope he soon gets a real trumpet in some years I ran again into him and he's playing with an orchestra or leading his own band, as a famous jazz musician.

Local Kiamichi Railroad In The Sunset

Kiamichi Railroad or KRR is a so-called Class III railroad with an operating revenue of less than $20 million (in 1991 dollars) per year. Headquartered in Hugo, Oklahoma and being a full subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Holding, Kiamichi "only" has a two lines totaling 231 miles.

I caught this General Motors Electro-Motive Division built EMD GP40-2 (cn 38508) on a branch line of Kiamichi between Antlers, Oklahoma and Paris, Texas in Swink, OK. The 16-cylinder engine generates about 3,000 horsepower. I got lucky as the sun was setting and producing rays surrounding the railroad right before a crossing.

Sources: Wikipedia
This shot is also featured in my ClickASnap, Rabadaba, 8App & Flii.by portfolios and in my Niume photography sphere blog.

Through These Doors

Mid-century modern style Municipal Annex building, finished in 1956 by architects Smith & Mills. Once home to Dallas City Hall for 22 years and the Dallas Police Department, the building these days houses the municipal courts.
Most notably, it was in this facility’s underground garage where Jack Ruby fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, and which still attracts curious tourists fifty years later.

Sources: Dallas City Newsroom
This shot and others are available for publication through photo agency, Dispatch Press Images, DPI. It is also featured in my ClickASnap and Flii.by portfolio and in my Niume photography sphere blog.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

All the sailboats are still out. Everyone is still enjoying the breeze on this lazy Sunday afternoon on White Rock Lake in Dallas. Right before the storm moves in again.

Cruisin' In Oak Cliff

Beautifully restored Lincoln Cosmopolitan 1949, caught cruisin' in Oak Cliff, in the Bishop Arts district of Dallas. This car has 337 cubic inch flathead V-8 with 152 horses and either runs with 4 speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission or three speed manual transmission.

Not sure, as I was not able to talk to the owner, driver if the car was lowered, channeled to make it more of ground hugger. The value range is from about $ 10'000 to $ 50'000 at the top end, with an average of roughly $ 16'000. The convertible version is rarer and therefore more expensive.

Answer Is Blowin' In The Wind

Almost lost, in the middle of nowhere, well not completely, actually in Bakersfield, Texas. Population by now, around 30 spread over miles and miles of acres and acres of Lone Praire.

There is actually not a house to be found anymore in Bakersfield, when the Oil Boom bust, houses or at least their building materials were carried away to where ever they were needed. At the peak of the boom there were over a 1'000 people living here,

Bakersfield had it's own school and post office. Now a sign on the road simply alerts "No Services Ahead," the only remaining building is an unmanned gas station serving IH10 traffic going west through the desert.

But the place, as empty as it is, also demonstrates change: the slow death from fossil-based energy to environmentally safe natural resources. Windmills on the cretes of the Indian Mesa of the West Texas mountain range are part of over 40 wind power projects all over the state, making the Lonestar state the biggest producer of that energy source in the USA. By now almost 10 percent of all the electricity generated in Texas originates from wind.

The Desert Sky Wind Farm in the back, covering 15 square miles, produces up to 160 megawatts (enough energy for 40'000 houses) with 107 turbines. The electricity is fed into the City Public Service of San Antonio (now called CPS Energy), 266 miles (430 km) away. So there may not be any local services ahead, but the energy generated in this remote part of the state, keeps the River Walk's lights on.

Sources: AWEA (American Wind Energy Association), desertskywind.com,

Prada In The Desert

For over ten years a high fashion nonfunctional Prada clothing store is smack dab in the middle of the West Texas desert between Van Horn and Valentine, but associated with Marfa to the south. Originally built to desintegrate over the years and to become nothing again But it had to be repaired, as vandals broke into the store, stole the luxury purses and shoes (only right ones were on display.) It needed another fix when a Waco artist broke into the building, spray painted the walls and protested against another clothing manufacturer.

But else the building has been there for over ten years and still attracting visitors from all over the world. The fate of the installation wasn't clear for a long time, as the Texas Department of Transportation considered it to be an unlicensed and therefore unpermitted billboard on the side of a state highway. A reclassification of the building into a museum with Prada, Marfa being the only exhibit, safed the fate, so now it can peacefully disintegrate and become nothing again.

Sources: www.powwows.com

Both shots as well as others are available for publication through the photo agency, Dispatch Press Images, DPI. This photo can also be found in my ClickASnap portfolio or in my Niume Blog.

Night Shift

A lone security guard at the end of the lobby, guarding an office building. As I love to document work in BW pictures I am really taken with the colors in this one. The almost complimentary colors are working wonders for this shot. And the "cold" outside fights the "warm" inside, but there is a guard denying access. There is something Kafkaesque in this shot. 

The BW on the other hand is more to reality in some certain ways: unarmed guards make minimum wage and do mostly "observe & report" duties. It just shows the job at what it is, a simple job. 

Both these shots are available for publication through Dispatch Press Images, a photo agency. They are also featured in my ClickASnap portfolio.

Flush It Out

In rural areas, public services have to come and flush culverts. Their job is to clean them with high pressure washers from debris and trash to reduce flooding, when it storms, so the rain water can drain away. One of the public sector jobs, where your tax money is at work to guarantee a safer community.

This shot and others are available for publication through Dispatch Press Images.

Pickin' & Grinnin' In Luckenbach

For the last almost 30 years I've been an infrequent frequent visitor to the small hamlet of Luckenbach, Texas. Made famous thanks to the Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson Hit "Luckenbach, Texas - Back To The Basics Of Love" the "town" with its own loop attracts people from all over the world. I published a first installment of a blog "Let's Go To Luckenbach, Texas" in Niume a while ago.

While weekends may be quite busy and overrun with tourists coming in buses and bikers showing up in swarms, it's the quieter moments that make this little town so special. If you ever go there in winter, the only thing warming you is a small little wood stove inside. It's mostly locals and regulars that show up, but there is always a picker or two, who want you to listen to his newest song creation.

If you go through the summer months, choose a day during the week or come in late on Sunday afternoon, when the "big" stars are gone, the stage is empty and the local people, the pickers and grinners show up for a traditional picker's circle or song swap or whatever you wanna call it.

The talent is wonderful and you may actually ran into one of the bigger stars on his way home, who just drops by to see what's going on. Chill, have a cold one and forget the world just for a little while.

These images and others are available for publication through Dispatch Press Images, a photo agency.

On The Way

You never know when you're gonna need them. This Emergency Medical Technicians (or EMTs for short) have probably one of the most demanding jobs there is. Not only do they have to respond quickly, they also have to decide quickly how they can help with medical issues, traumatic injuries and accident scenes.

As a survivor a bad motorcycle accident I will always be in debt to the EMTs who were able to "ship" me as fast as possible to the next hospital, where I spent the next 13 weeks.

So pay attention, get off your freaking cell phone, while you drive and get out of the way, so they can tend to the person who needs most. The next time it might be you, waiting for an ambulance to show up. And sometimes it may only be minutes deciding if you live or not.

This and other images are mine, are available for publication through Dispatch Press Images, a photo agency.